Executive Chef Fabrice Canelle of Çintemani Restaurant at the luxurious The Ritz-Carlton Istanbul takes time out of his day to share his culinary and artistic vision as well as recipes.

After honing his career in Paris, Dallas, Chicago, Washington, DC, San Francisco, New York at the highly acclaimed Russian Tea Room, and the prestigious Çiragan Palace in Istanbul, Chef Fabrice joined The Ritz-Carlton Istanbul in January 2006, and has been non-stop in his innovations for Çintemani Restaurant. One of his innovations has been designing and implementing a Gentleman's Menu and a Lady's Menu for the restaurant, since he believes men and women eat differently.

When not dreaming up new recipes or new concepts, or spending time with his wife and his two children, he spends this time creating culinary themed artwork, using the tools of his trade, namely forks, spoons and knives, which he fashions into art pieces. While I was there in March 2006, he was working on two pieces featuring a tomato and an eggplant, for an exhibition in May 2006 at a fashionable gallery in Istanbul. When not pursuing artistic endeavors, he enjoys helping to promote young Turkish chefs, to really give them a chance to succeed.

These recipes are from a dinner that Edward F. Nesta and I shared one evening at the restaurant. We had the great pleasure of seeing Chef Fabrice in action in the kitchen, followed by a wonderful dinner in the restaurant. As they say in Turkey, ‘Afiyet olsun' (Bon Appetit!)

Mijote of Beef Cheeks in Burgundy Wine with Marjoram served in "Le Creuset" with Buttered Horseradish Whipped Potatoes8 Servings

Important Note: This recipe must be made 6 days in advance.

Ingredients:

8

beef cheeks degreased

8

liters (2 gallons)

Burgundy wine

500

grams (1 pound)

onions, diced 2 cm x 2 cm (1-inch x 1-inch)

500

grams (1 pound)

carrots, diced 1 cm x 1 cm (1/2-inch x 1/2-inch)

½

fresh bouquet thyme

4

dried bay leaves

15

grams (1 tablespoon)

cracked black peppercorns

zest of 1 orange

45

grams (1 tablespoon)

sugar

2

liters (2 quarts)

beef demi-glaze

marjoram (may be added to the beef cheek sauce)

Method: Cover the beef cheeks and marinate with all of the ingredients in the refrigerator for 5 days. After 5 days, remove the beef cheeks from the rest of the ingredients. Dry them with towels and sear with olive oil in a very hot pan. Sear all vegetables the same way and season with salt. Set them aside. Reduce the wine by 1/3 while skimming the top. Put wine, beef demi-glaze, cheeks, and vegetables in a heavy duty covered pot and place in the oven at 150° C (300° F) for 7 hours or until the meat is tender. Let rest for 1 night. (It is better to eat it the next day to allow the flavors to meld.)

Horseradish Whipped Potatoes Method: Use old large potatoes. Peel them after they have cooked in a steamer. Mash them with cold butter, sea salt and hot boiled cream. Whip them by hand and add some freshly grated horseradish. Serve immediately.

Method: Boil the milk. Mix the semolina and butter in a pan. Add the boiling milk, Parmesan cheese and season to taste. Pour the mixture in a tray and let it cool down. Cut all of the ingredients including the pomegranate, and mix for the vierge. Panfry the fish. Serve with grilled semolina disk and vierge.